Stephen Forshaw moves on from Temasek after 11 years

Stephen Forshaw (pictured) has stepped down from his role as head of public affairs at Temasek after over 11 years with the company. Forshaw will be relocating to Australia to take on a new role at Airbus as chief representative of Australia and New Zealand.

Forshaw’s expertise range from reputation management, executive counsel, issues management, media engagement (including interviews), team leadership and talent development to many others. A well-respected figure within the public affairs and communications circle in Singapore, Forshaw first joined Temasek in 2011 as head of public affairs. Prior to joining Temasek, Forshaw was senior director, corporate communications for Microsoft, covering Asia Pacific.

No stranger to the aviation industry, from 2000 to 2009, Forshaw was also with Singapore Airlines where he was responsible for public affairs; initially in Australia, relocating to Singapore to head the airline’s global public affairs function. He has also served as chief of staff in the office of Gary Humphries MLA (Deputy Chief Minister, Attorney-General and Treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory – Canberra). He was a political and campaign adviser during several local and Federal elections in Australia. 

In a LinkedIn post, Forshaw said, “To my friends at Temasek, what an amazing journey with such a purpose-driven firm, where we all have the opportunity to make a big difference. We deploy capital, human resources and our connections across our portfolio to tackle big global challenges. I won't be a stranger, and will be a proud and committed alumnus.”

Forshaw has also in the past spoken about the importance of public relations at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s PR Asia Conferences. In 2018, Forshaw encouraged PR professionals to carve a niche for itself in the company and show the value of the function. He strongly advocated the need for PR people in the boardroom. “I sit on boards and I involve myself with boards of companies with our portfolios. The number of times boards are talking about issues such as corporate reputation, and managing issues and expectations of stakeholders is far more common than I think people in our profession realise and understand,” he shared.

With Forshaw at the helm, Temasek also pressured Facebook in 2020 to be more active in stamping out such hate speech. This came after some of its colleagues were dragged into a divisive social media post about its employment.

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